Exactly 51 weeks later, the Westlock Legion lounge has been flooded.
On Sept. 17, water was found in the women’s washroom in the basement of the Legion building, said branch manager Avril Campbell.
That water was cleaned up, but more started being discovered in other places around the lounge, she said. Legion staff tried to mop it up, but eventually realized what was happening and admitted defeat.
Other than it being a sewer backup, Campbell said she and the rest of the Legion officials have no idea what happened, adding the insurance company has said they will look into the cause and assess the at-fault party.
In addition, the value of the damage is unknown at this point, she said.
This new round of flooding comes exactly one week before what would have been the one-year anniversary of the lounge flooding on Sept. 24, 2012.
However, unlike last year, Campbell said the lounge should be able to reopen within a month.
“We did a complete renovation last time,” she said. “This time we won’t be doing a renovation; it will just be fixing.”
All that is necessary this time is to sanitize the entire basement and install new flooring, new walls and new paint. Last year asbestos was found in the walls, necessitating the full-scale renovations.
Since the flooding was discovered last Tuesday, Campbell said crews had been in the lounge pretty much all day every day, tearing up the floor and drying out the room.
“We’re working as fast as we can,” she said.